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Atletico Madrid

The Fire’s summer friendly opponents and Team for the World alliance partners Club America took a further step to their first domestic crown since 2005, defeating Monterrey 2-1 (and 4-3 on aggregate) in leg two of the Liga MX semifinals Saturday night at the Estadio Azteca.

In leg one last Wednesday, Ecuadorian international Christian Benitez continued his exploits from the weekend’s 2-1 victory over Pumas UNAM, scoring both goals in the team’s 2-2 draw at Monterrey.

That result set the stage for Saturday’s match, which saw America take the advantage just after the hour mark. In the 62nd minute, Aguilas midfielder Ruben Sambueza was brought down on the right side of the area by Monterrey defender Leobardo Lopez, forcing referee Jorge Antonio Perez to point to the spot.

A minute later, Aguilas striker Raul Jimenez placed his effort past Jonathan Orozco into the lower left netting to give America a 1-0 lead and 3-2 aggregate advantage.

The home side pretty much iced the series 19 minutes later after a Monterrey giveaway at midfield. Jimenez and Benitez quickly broke out in a give and go before the Ecuadorian was slipped into the box and finished past Ibarra for the 2-0 lead and 4-2 advantage.

The goal was Benitez’ fifth in four playoff matches.

Los Rayados pushed late and pulled one back deep into second half stoppage time. Substitute Guillermo Madrigal settled in the box, turned and forced a diving stop out of Moises Munoz before striker Aldo de Nigris finished from close range.

The goal to the aggregate score to 4-3 but the referee blew the whistle soon after, advancing America to the Liga MX Clasura finals against Cruz Azul.

Leg one of the finals will be played at Estadio Azul in Mexico City on Thursday with the return leg at Estadio Azteca on Sunday.

The Chicago Fire take on Club America in an international friendly on Wednesday, July 10 at Toyota Park.

Atletico de Madrid takes Copa del Rey title

Atletico Madrid over came a 25-match winless run against city rivals Real Madrid and a 1-0 deficit to win the Copa del Rey 2-1 in extra time at the Santiago Bernabeu on Friday night.

Real Madrid took the early lead when Cristiano Ronaldo rose above the rest to head home a corner kick in the 14th minute.

Atletico would respond 21 minutes later when Radamel Falcao did yeoman's work at midfield before springing Diego Costa between two Madrid defenders. The Brazilian fired from the top of the penalty area and beating 'keeper Diego Lopez inside the left post.

You could see Real Madrid begin to come undone in the 75th minute when manager Jose Mourinho was sent off for leaving the technical area to argue a play.

Fifteen minutes later, Cristiano Ronaldo kicked Atletico defender Juanfran but the offense went unnoticed and the teams went to extra time level at 1-1.

Atletico would find the game-winner off a corner. Koke's take from the right was headed straight back to him but he whipped in another ball which found the head of Brazilian defender MIranda to beat Diego Lopez inside the near post.

The wheels came off for Real Madrid when Ronaldo was sent off following a scuffle at midfield in the 115th minute.

Shortly thereafter the referee blew the whistle, confirming Atletico's 2-1 triumph. The victory gave the club its 10th Copa del Rey title and first since 1996.

Atletico Madrid
Atletico came away with a 1-1 draw away to bottom-of-the-table Mallorca this past weekend. After going up 1-0 through Raul Garcia in the 72nd minute, Mallorca equalized in the 87th through Kevin.
Atletico Madrid take a short break from league action Thursday when they pay a visit to Getafe for the second leg of their Copa del Rey tie in which los Rojiblancos 3-0 on aggregate.
Now sitting 11 points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona, Atletico will look to close the gap when they welcome Real Zaragoza to the Calderon this Sunday.

Club America
Los Aguilas opened the 2013 Clausura campaign with a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Monterrey Saturday afternoon in Mexico City. Ecuadorian midfielder Walter Avoyi put the visitors ahead from the penalty spot in the 15th minute before America’s Jesus Molina equalized in the 39th.

With the match looking like it would end in a 1-1 draw, America was granted a late penalty kick which Rubens Sambueza converted in the 94th minute to clinch the three points.
The club will hope to continue it’s one-hundred percent record when they visit Jaguares this Friday.

Besiktas
Turkish side Besiktas most recently fell 2-0 to German side Wolfsburg in a friendly match this past Sunday. They’ll continue their winter break before returning to Super Lig action January 19 in a derby match against Istanbul BB.

Raja Casablanca
Raja Casablanca maintained their GNF league lead with a convincing 4-1, win over Difaa El Jadida this past Sunday. This upcoming Sunday, they will try to keep their slim league lead against lowly Raja Beni Mellal.

Well you heard a bit about Jalil Anibaba and Austin Berry spending time at Atletico Madrid last month. Our friends at Kick TV followed the Fire's defensive pair during their stay at the Calderon... Check out the video below!

Though Lionel Messi set a very impressive career mark on Sunday, it would be hard to argue anyone on the planet had as good of a weekend as Atletico Madrid’s Radamel Falcao who scored five goals in Atleti’s 6-0 home win over Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday.

Teammate Diego Costa put Atletico ahead 1-0 in the 23rd minute before Flacao unleashed a fury of goals in the 28th, 42nd, 64th, 68th and 71st minutes as the club eased to victory over the La Liga bottom dwellers.

The goal fest moved Falcao past Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and into second on the La Liga goal charts with 16, sitting behind only Barcelona’s Messi who has 23 goals in the current campaign.

Atletico will shift focus to Copa del Rey play when they welcome Getafe to the Calderon for the first leg of their series on Wednesday.

Sitting six points behind Barcelona at second place in the La Liga table, the club will hope to cut into the lead when they travel to the Nou Camp for a top of the table clash on Sunday.

See all the goals from Sunday below...

Besiktas Istanbul

In Turkish Super League play on Friday, Besiktas ran out to a 2-0 lead over Eskisehirspor through Slovakian striker Filip Holosko (sixth minute) and Portuguese forward Hugo Almeida (66th minute).

They often say that in soccer 2-0 is the most dangerous lead though and that proved true as Eskisehirspor pulled two late goals back through a Necate Antes penalty in the 82nd minute before Austrian substitute Atdhe Nuhiu equalized in the 90th.

With the 2-2 draw, Besiktas sit third on 26 points in the Super League heading into Wednesday’s Turkish Cup match at Antalyaspor. They return to league play Saturday when they visit ninth place Genclebirligi.

Raja Casablanca

Raja Casablanca remained first in the Moroccan Botola Pro League, earning four points in two matches last week.

The Green Eagles downed Moghreb Tetouan 3-1 at home last Wednesday before playing to a 0-0 draw at Maghreb Fez on Sunday.

With 23 points, the side sits one point above second place Wydad Casablanca with a game in hand, heading into their top of the table clash this Friday.